Plain Language Writing Training Video from the 2023 Civic Design Forum

▶️ Click here to watch the Plain Language 101 Training Video!

This is a 25 minute video where Jack Ding from the NYC Mayor’s Office for Economic Opportunity gives an overview of plain language writing techniques.

What is the Civic Design Forum?

The Civic Design Forum (CDF) is an activation space that brings together a community of practice comprising NYC public servants to exchange resources and best practices, and learn about and provide feedback on innovative projects and processes across the City. The forum surfaces effective approaches, mindsets, and tools that can be leveraged to advance the impact of City programs and services. In May, the forum focused on training attendees on basic plain language writing techniques.

Join the Civic Design Forum listserv to get invites for future forum events!

What is Plain Language writing?

Plain Language is communication your audience can understand the first time they read or hear it. Writing in plain language makes it easier for the public to understand government communications. This Forum will benefit any City employee who writes public facing communications such as informational documents, program materials, flyers, websites, etc. We had an amazing turnout where about 50 government workers were present to talk about and ask questions around plain language writing

More Plain Language Resources for NYC City Agency Staff :

• HemingwayApp.com — The Hemingway editor is a free web-based tool to review your writing. Paste any text into the page’s home screen and get feedback on how readable something is. We recommend you bookmark this site for future use. Using hemingwayapp.com is a great habit to start building your plain language empathy!
• Plainglanguage.gov — Want more training? Find training videos, resources, and so much more on this site.
• DCAS Plain Language Clinic — The plain language clinic is designed to provide you with the tools to write in plain language while maintaining a level of professionalism. You will have opportunities to practice course principles through writing, revising, editing, and proofreading activities, and receive confidential feedback on your writing development based on plain language principles. Visit the DCAS Summer Course Catalogue (page 105) to apply.
• Service Design Studio | Office Hour Program — Sign up for a one-on-one with one of the Service Design Studios’ designers to learn more about civic service design and how to apply it to your work. We offer support around topics such as communications design (including plain language writing), operations design, tools for mapping processes and journeys, how to develop visualizations for operational clarity, and integrating design research methods for qualitative research and synthesis.

For any questions about this year’s forum or future opportunities for collaboration you can visit the Service Design Studios website here or book an office hour with the team here (please note, office hours are only open for NYC City Agency Staff).

To contact us email the Studio here: design@nycopportunity.nyc.gov